Mourning & Faith

READ | Hebrews 11:1-40

We all face this in life and we all need to come to terms with it – the death of a loved one. As I sit here thinking about this next Living Hope Devotional I can’t help but think about the death of my mom’s mom this past week. Death is never easy. But when it gets personal, it’s really hard. I can’t imagine the grief and the sadness throughout the world every day when a loved one passes away. My grandmother was probably the sweetest and kindest woman I’ve ever known. She was exactly what a Grandma is supposed to be. I’ll always remember her love for her family and how at every family get together she never sat down but was always running around serving people. What a beautiful and wonderful Grandma. I will miss her dearly.

Friends, I share only a piece of some of my memories but as I write I think of the title of this weekly devotional – Living Hope. And all I want to say this week is do you have it? Do you have a Living Hope that death is not the end but just the beginning of a different and new kind of relationship with our heavenly Father?

You know there are a lot of people who question people of faith as being without evidence that there is anything beyond the grave. I’m sad for them. They haven’t met our Jesus. Jesus provided ample evidence that we have a living hope beyond the grave because He was able to conquer death. No matter what you think about death and the grave remember this – Jesus conquered both. And history proves what Christians believe.

Though we mourn we do not mourn as people without hope. May God give you His grace and His mercy and His peace without limit this week.

Our House

READ | 2 Chronicles 7:11-22

There's a phrase that's repeated over and over again in the world of college basketball by the home team fans - Our House! It's a statement of authority and a statement of attitude. What it means is if you're coming in to our house you better believer we're going to defend our home court advantage. And if you've ever been to an NCAA college basketball game you can attest to this fact that when home team fans start chanting Our House the game is all decided with the home team coming out on top as the victor.

Friends, our passage this week is 2 Chronicles 7:11-22. But what I really want to focus on is 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says - if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. You know, very often I hear this passage quoted in a way where the church should be praying to heal this wicked nation. And I can't help but see that God is saying to Israel, my people should pray and humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways. What I want us to focus on this week is God's call to His people; His call for us to be the church, His gathering of people who represent Him well in our generation. It was His desire for Israel and it's His desire for all of His children.

Spend time this week doing these few things: humble yourself before God; pray to God the Father; turn from our wicked ways. And the promise is this - God will hear us from heaven; forgive us of our sins and then maybe what He promised Israel will happen for us as well, our land will be healed. To God be the glory!

Highs and Lows

READ | 1 Kings 18:1-19:3

The Old Testament is filled with stories that tell us about the day to day activities of our brothers and sisters in faith. Their highs and lows are recorded for our benefit, that we might learn how to rightly relate to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. First Kings 18:1-19:2 is no exception.

Read the story and you’ll see what I mean. The prophet Elijah had many conversations with God where God would use him for His good purposes. But at this time Israel had a king, King Ahab who considered it “trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam.” In addition, he served and worshipped Baal which provoked the LORD to anger more than all the kings of Israel before him. That’s no small feat!

Elijah’s ministry was full of challenges. God called him to approach this evil king to confront his false idol worship. Ahab easily could have killed Elijah simply by saying the word. But God protected Him because His purposes were greater than this king’s. So the challenge was set – both would allow their God to answer their prayer to see who the real God was. With the two bulls cut into pieces and placed on the wood Elijah said to the prophets of Baal (there were four-hundred and fifty) to call on their god to bring down fire on the bulls. And you know what happened? Nothing. Their gods were impotent, powerless to do anything. So Elijah steps in and has gallons and gallons of water poured on the bulls and the wood. As he prays the fire of the Lord comes down and licked up every ounce of the bull sacrifice, wood and water. The people were amazed and were heard crying out – “The LORD, he is God! The LORD, he is God!” Amen.

But moments later, after this great victory we see Elijah cowering in fear because of the threat coming his way from the kings wife Jezebel. Friends, ministry is often like this. After the great highs of ministry can come great lows, where we doubt. Let’s remember that what changed in Elijah’s circumstance seems to be simply his trust and his perspective. When he listened and trusted God’s word, success. When he listened to Jezebel’s threats and believed them, fear. Never allow your circumstances to control your faith, but allow your faith to control your circumstances.

You're Invited!

READ | Matthew 22:1-14

As spring wrestles to break free from the cold weather we’ve been experiencing in the northeast and the temperatures start to rise with flowers blooming and the sun shining, we’re beginning to head into what I like to call wedding season. With all the activities surrounding the planning of any wedding one of the main responsibilities is getting the wedding invitations out in a timely fashion. But that first necessitates making your guest list.

Now for those who are being invited – you have a decision to make. Am I going to accept or decline the invitation? This brings us to the passage for the week – Matthew 22:1-14. Jesus in explaining what the kingdom of heaven is like and He expresses it in a parable of the wedding banquet. Read the parable and notice some interesting aspects to what God’s kingdom is really like.

Notice the kingdom comes with an invitation. You’re invited, I’m invited, and in fact everybody’s invited. But not everyone accepts this invitation. Matthew 22:5 tells us that those first invited “paid no attention” to the invitation. They went about their own business while the rest took the fathers servants and killed them. Some are indifferent, some are indignant. Biblical scholars will contend that this first group of invited guests represents the Jews of Jesus’ day who missed it – they didn’t get that their Messiah had come. So the king in this parable, representing our heavenly Father, extends another invitation. He invites (Matthew 22:9) “anyone you find.” This would represent the Gentiles, or everyone else as the parable expresses.

What’s interesting to understand is God doesn’t discriminate, He invites everyone. And He’s a respecter of our will. He doesn’t force anyone to come. What’s also interesting though is the peoples’ response. Some ignore the king’s invitation while others appear insulted by the king’s invitation – indicated by their murdering of the king’s servants.

This reveals a few things. First, God offers an open invitation to everyone to join the party, to join His kingdom. Second, not everyone cares about God’s kingdom party. And third, there are consequences to what people do with the King’s invitation. Friends, if you’ve already accepted His invitation, you’re responsible as His servants to invite people into the kingdom celebration. If you haven’t already accepted His invitation, God wants you to know there are consequences that come with our choices. So what’s it gonna be? Celebration or consequences? I’ll choose celebration everyday!!

If you have questions about accepting the kingdom invitation, talk to a close friend who’s already accepted God’s invite or call the Hope offices. We’d love to talk with you – God Bless!!

Psst...Pass it on

READ | 2 Timothy 2:1-2,Matthew 28:19-20

As I’ve gotten older one of the things I enjoy most about mornings is waking up and having a nice cup of coffee with my wife as we chat at the breakfast table. We talk about all sorts of things but many of our best conversations center on our faith. Recently we were talking and had a nice conversation that focused on a question of faith that is relevant for all of us – what are we doing with our faith?

The answer to that question was never intended to be a secret; rather, the right answer is we’re to pass it on. A quick reading of 2 Timothy 2:1-2 shows the Apostle Paul writing to a young pastor named Timothy and advising him what he should do with his faith. In this passage he says, what you’ve heard me say about the grace of God pass it on to reliable men who will also be able to pass it on to others.

Friends, this is OUR RESPONSIBILITY. Think about it – what did Jesus say in Matthew 28:19-20? He said His followers are to go and make disciples, helping them to be identified with Christ (through baptism) and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded.

My question and challenge this week is this – who are you passing your faith onto? And will you pray with me that God would show you how He wants you living out this command in your life?

May God get the glory as we learn to love and obey Him!

Where Hope is Found...

READ | Acts 12:5,Romans 5:1-5

Studying the book of Acts we come upon a story that seems filled with hopelessness. James had recently been killed by Herod. Peter was in prison, and was held there so that he could be brought “before the people” after Passover. He was guarded by 16 soldiers, and chained to two of them. Was Peter’s situation hopeless?

The church was praying fervently for Peter. It was the middle of the night, but a group was gathered to pray. Peter had been in prison for several days, but they were still praying. Maybe it was because Peter was to be tried the next day. Were they praying with hope that God would answer, or because the situation was hopeless?

Peter had been in prison before, and was miraculously freed by an angel. When Peter was taken to the prison, did he lose hope, or did he think, “Hey, I’ve been here before”?

The reason to have hope is separate from our situation. We do not have hope because we see a glimmer of light, or because we know that our friends are working to save us. We do not have hope because positive thinking will solve our problem. We do not have hope in our ability to think of a way out of a bad situation.

Paul tells us we have hope because we have Jesus. And even if we have trials, they still give us hope. We have hope totally without regard for our situation. We have hope because the love of God is poured out in our hearts.

This is one of the truly funny stories in the Bible. An angel frees Peter (again) and he comes to the house where they were praying for him. They did not believe that it was him! They left him out in the street, where he was in danger of being discovered and returned to prison. The very thing they were praying for had been provided, and they almost missed it. Pray with hope in the One who has poured out His love upon us. He hears your prayers. And He answers.

Written by Scott Sibley, Member of Hope Community Church and Short-Term Missionary to Ghana